1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a sports boot having an outer sole on which an upper is mounted, which includes a zone for introducing the foot and a rear upper zone including a medial quarter and a lateral quarter connected to one another by a tightening system.
2. Description of Background and Relevant Information
The known tightening systems are constituted by a flexible linkage connecting to one another, along a predetermined alternative path, a series of return elements arranged fixedly on both sides of the quarters, in the vicinity of their edges to define a lacing zone.
The known tightening systems of this type are generally arranged outside the boot, which has the disadvantage of not offering a perfect imperviousness against external elements, especially snow, ice, water, stones, etc., despite the presence of an inner tongue for covering the foot. In addition, the return elements arranged so as to project on the outer surfaces of the quarters constitute as many projections on the top of the boot, detrimentally promoting the risks of hooking during the practice of the sport, especially more or less xe2x80x9caggressivexe2x80x9d sports such as biking, hiking, etc.
To overcome these disadvantages, it is known to obtain an increased imperviousness of the lacing zone against external aggressions or elements, while protecting the user from the return elements, by providing the lacing zone on an internal tightening device and arranging above the lacing zone a flap that can be opened or closed as required by means of a zipper. Such a construction is known from U.S. Pat. No. 5,167,084, for example.
While this remedies the aforementioned problems efficiently, it however increases the cost of the boot considerably. Furthermore, zippers pose problems of ill-timed opening.
The present invention makes it possible to overcome all of the aforementioned disadvantages and, to this end, the invention relates to a sports boot having an outer sole on which an upper is mounted, which includes a zone for introducing the foot and a front upper zone including a medial quarter and a lateral quarter connected to one another by a tightening system constituted by a flexible linkage connecting to one another, along a predetermined alternative path, a series of return elements arranged fixedly on both sides of the quarters, in the vicinity of their edges to define a lacing zone, wherein the return elements associated with the flexible linkage generally constituting the tightening system are arranged on the surfaces of the medial and lateral quarters of the upper, directed toward the foot, to constitute a system for tightening the upper, acting from within the latter.
In this way, not only is imperviousness perfectly obtained, but the return elements are not apparent, which provides the boot with a quite unusual and very aesthetic aspect, at an acceptable cost.
The present invention also relates to the characteristics which will become apparent from the description that follows, and which must be considered separately or according to all of their possible technical combinations.